Why People Under 40 Aren’t Making It a Priority to Get a Flu Shot

Written by Bob Curley on January 16, 2020 — Fact checked by Jennifer Chesak

Share on PinterestResearchers say only about half of millennials have received a flu shot, and a third don’t plan to get the vaccination. Getty Images

A survey reports that about 51 percent of millennials in the United States haven’t received a flu shot, and 32 percent don’t plan to get one.

The survey also indicated that millennials and African Americans were most likely to be influenced by anti-vaccination groups.

Experts say millennials may be reluctant to get vaccinated because they have fewer healthcare opportunities, and they don’t get as sick with the flu as older adults and children.

Millennials in the United States are the least likely to get vaccinated against the flu.

The American Academy of Family Physicians says that lack of cooperation coupled with anti-vaccination misinformation may contribute to more than half of Americans foregoing their annual flu shot this year.

A survey commissioned by the physicians group found that more than 8 of 10 Americans incorrectly answered at least a portion of the basic questions about flu vaccinations. Nearly one-third got all of the questions wrong.

For example, Americans — especially men — routinely underestimate the number of deaths the flu causes each year.

The misconception that the flu shot can give you the flu also remains widely accepted, in part because the immune response provoked by the shot can cause short-term fatigue and other mild side effects.

The survey “found certain groups, including millennials and African Americans, are more susceptible to anti-vaccination rhetoric and beliefs, while men are more likely to forego a flu shot — both for themselves and their children,” the association said in its press statement.

Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) were the least likely to have been vaccinated: 55 percent hadn’t yet gotten a flu shot.

The survey reported that a quarter of millennials said they didn’t have time to get a shot, compared to 12 percent of Generation X respondents and 6 percent of baby boomers.

Other millennials said they simply forgot to get the shot.

“A lot of it has to do with not having seen these illnesses themselves,” Nachman told Healthline. “They also know a lot of people who had the flu who did fine, so they figure they can just tough it out.”

Millennials were also more likely to be skeptical or misinformed about flu vaccination.

For example, 61 percent of those in this age group who were familiar with the anti-vaccination movement said they agreed with some of its beliefs. That compared to 52 percent of adults overall and 42 percent of baby boomers.

Millennials were also the age group most likely to get wrong answers on the survey.

African Americans also seemed to be influenced by anti-vaccination rhetoric, whereas Asian Americans appeared to be least affected, the survey reported.

“It is very alarming to see how people are being influenced by the anti-vax movement,” Alexa Mieses, MD, MPH, a practicing family physician in Durham, North Carolina, told Healthline.

“Whether they are young adults or African Americans, we need to make sure that these communities are educated about the importance of vaccines and that they understand the source of the rhetoric they’re hearing. It’s clear they are being influenced by myths and misinformation, and it’s critical that the facts reach them too,” she said.

Despite their low vaccination rates, millennials were also the most likely to believe in the effectiveness of the flu shot and its protective effects on their friends, families, and acquaintances.

“Vaccines work when a critical mass of people get vaccinated,” Mieses said.

Given their generational predisposition toward community, that’s a fact that could be especially resonant in convincing more millennials to get their flu shot.

“It’s an awareness of your place in society,” Nachman said. “Community protection is a real thing. It means I am as responsible for you as I am for myself. We want to protect our parents and grandparents and young babies. If you’re going to see a friend’s new baby, don’t you want to protect that new baby, too?”

Written by Bob Curley on January 16, 2020 — Fact checked by Jennifer Chesak